Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
News & Updates
11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
Here on Classic we understand that sometimes life can get difficult and we struggle. We may need to receive advice, vent, know that we are not alone in our difficult times, or even just have someone listen to what's going on in our lives. In light of these times, we have created the support threads below that are open to all of our members at any time.
The clan was resting today; their journey was nearly completed, and they were nearing the survival clans, where they would make their home once more. Ghostcrown's paws thrummed with excitement for an entirely different reason. Breezestep was assigning a few patrols to hunt and bring back prey for the clan, and he had offered to scout ahead and check if any new cats were living on their old land.
"Spiritlake," the inky black tom chirped as he found her, his eyes glowing with more excitement than he'd shown in moons. "I'm going to check out the land ahead of us and see what state it is in. Come with me?"
Ghostcrown would have invited both of his children, but Desertwind had been sent on one of the hunting patrols. That just meant more time alone with his daughter, if she could be convinced to come.
"Sure," Spiritlake said with just a hint of enthusiasm as she padded over to her father. She'd grown up into a bit of a loner, the type who was happy to spend time alone or with one or two close friends, which happened to be just about all the friends she had. You could hardly even recognize her as the same cat who was born and raised in SunClan all of those moons ago, "I was hoping you'd show me around this territory... you know it better than almost anyone else because this was your home before the flood, right?"
He nodded, pleased that she had remembered. "I'll show you the EarthClan camp if it still stands," he suggested. "It used to be impressive." His time in EarthClan had been tainted by bad memories of his bitter childhood, yet he found he was strangely eager to see his old territory again. His old fears didn't have the same grip they used to have, not now that he had survived so much worse.
"I wonder if there's anyone still there." The territory had been destroyed after the floods, or so he'd been told; Ghostcrown had never gone back himself to look. Still, a part of him hoped that someone he knew was still out there. Would they recognize him? He had changed so much from back then, even if they did know him, they probably did not look upon his memory fondly.
"Don't you dare accuse me of being an old soul or sounding wise...," Spiritlake began, making it clear that any strange comments or dad jokes would not be tolerated, "... But nature has a way of healing itself. I bet you'll be surprised, I mean, the flood happened dozens of moons before I was born, right? I don't mean to suggest that the land is move-in ready, but I bet the greenery and prey has started its return. At the very least I hope it's recognizable to you again. I'd love to see it..."
Was Spiritlake a bit of a dork? Yeah, probably, but so was her dad so it wasn't really a surprise to anyone. For her credit she seemed honest and serious which was plenty endearing in its own way. She was being vulnerable and revealing her true self; but one misstep on Ghostcrown's part and she'd certainly shut him out...
"'Dozens of moons?' Exactly how old do you think I am?" Ghostcrown huffed. He wasn't sure which was the worse: his daughter's insult, or that it wasn't too far from the truth. Nearly a dozen moons had passed between the flood and Spiritlake's birth, and for the first time, Ghostcrown felt old. He had many good moons left in him before he had to retire, but he didn't understand when he had stopped being a plucky young warrior. Once, he thought the tragedy that drove them from their home had aged him prematurely, but now he wondered if it was simply the passage of time.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe the moles are back," he chirped. He had told his kits to find one, back during his exile from SunClan; now he could finally show her what the little critters tasted like. "You'll love them. A lemming too. We can bring back enough prey to feed the whole clan." Once, he'd dreamed of teaching his kits about all of the fun varieties of prey out there. Now he could live that dream again.
"Okay I may be exaggerating a little bit, but it happened before I was born which means it was practically a lifetime ago to me," Spiritlake yielded, not because she felt bad about embarrassing her father, but because she realized she probably was factually inaccurate. She was glad that he changed the subject to food which reminded her that she was, in fact, quite hungry, "Lemmings are basically voles, right? So I'm sure that's what they'll taste like. Moles, however, I'm not too sure about. What do they even eat underground? Dirt?"
Spiritlake was using the word dirt in two different ways - one literal, the brown powdery substance beneath her paws, the other slang term for something cats made daily.
"Bugs," Ghostcrown suggested, though he honestly was not sure. He didn't spend very much time learning about prey's prey. Some warriors found an interest in that, but back then he was a Mudlark, and his duties had little to do with hunting at all. They were adventurers, treasure hunters, leaders, not prey-watchers. "They don't taste so bad, but they're a little tough."
He trotted on through the territory, glancing eagerly over their surroundings. "There! You see that large rock there?" It was dark gray and had a broken tip jutting toward the sky. The flood had washed away most of the mud around the base, and it was tilted on its side, looking unstable. "I haven't seen that thing in ages. We used to fight to see which apprentice could stay on top the longest. I got my first concussion there."
"Wow, what a landmark," Spiritlake said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. She turned away from Ghostcrown and approached the large rock, putting her paw up against its side to test its strength, "I was going to ask you if you wanted to play that game again, but I don't know. I'm not sure how this thing is even standing up right now. Even a kit could..."
The black-and-white Warrior put a bit too much pressure on the stone and it began to shift toward her, but she was too busy talking to Ghostcrown to notice. After all, it was moving very slowly.
He trotted up beside it as well and circled around the base and his daughter, his head tilted up to admire the stone. Even if he had been injured, it was a good memory; they had all been laughing and breathing hard as they scrambled over the edge, the rock beneath their paws warmed by the sun but blunt and unyielding beneath their claws -- not unlike their enemies' paws, and young Dorsalpaw had no hesitations about climbing up their pelts.
"You're probably right," he agreed, as the dislodging stone shot a scatter of small pebbles down at his paws. He glanced at them as he went on, "so maybe you should leave it alone." His gaze traced the stone back toward his daughter, and Ghostcrown lunged, tackling her out of the path of danger.
The stone made another shift, this one more dramatic, but only slight - it was just further settling into its new base. Had Ghostcrown not intervened, Spiritlake would have been a bit startled but totally fine.
In the moment, however, everything was moving at lightning-speed, including Spiritlake's heart. She let out a startled squeak as her father lunged and pushed her away from the leaning stone and for a second thought she was about to die. The black-and-white she-cat braced for an impact that never came.
Then she burst out into laughter.
"I thought I was seriously about to die!" She blurted out, roughing up her father's head with her freed up forepaw, "It's good to know that I have a dad like you to watch my back. You're practically a super-hero now, you know."
His eyes squeezed shut, anticipating the weight of the stone crushing down on his spine. Had he moved fast enough? Was she safe? Was he? He would take the hit if it meant keeping her safe, but his mouth was dry with fear.
There was a little creak and then a hanging silence, for a moment he thought the world was slowing down before the instant of impact, but then Spiritlake started to laugh.
Ghostcrown rolled over and looked up at the stone, and then he huffed and shook his head, a relieved smile spreading over his face long before his heart stopped pounding.
"Was there ever any doubt?" he ribbed back. "You're lucky I used my super strength to stop that rock from falling the rest of the way!"
